Futuresource Consulting has estimated that the mobile gaming market will generate $10 billion annually by 2014.

It also predicted significant growth for the sector this year, claiming that smartphone take-up would have risen by 50 per cent come the end of 2010 – meaning 270m units worldwide.

The analyst pegged Apple's iPhone range as covering 30 per cent of the mobile gaming market this year, generating $1.7 billion.

Nonetheless, it saw 'traditional' mobile games as retaining the lion's share of the sector this year, at 60 per cent compared to the 10 per cent accounted for by app stores.

However, Futuresource felt this would change dramatically come 2014, with app-based games comprising 95 per cent of the market by then.

Said Patrik Pfandler, lead mobile analyst at Futuresource, "The growth of in-apps payments is a key ingredient in the commercial success of apps gaming.

" In the short term we'll see the rise of the 'freemium' business model. In the longer run, we're going to see ad-funded apps games start to gain more traction as well."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...SD10bn-by-2014 ...

God of War: Ghost Of Sparta developer Ready At Dawn has claimed PSP development is endangered by the levels of piracy on Sony's handheld.

"It's pretty rampant now all around the world," creative director Ru Weerasuriya told VG247.

"It's getting to the point where it doesn't make sense to make games on it, if the piracy keeps on increasing.

"It's a tough call right now to say what's going to happen to it and where it's going to go, but it definitely hurts a lot of developers out there who are trying to make great games."

He felt the situation was now worse even than on PC. "The PC market has had connectivity and multiplayer, which brings down the piracy.

"A lot of the PC games right now require you to be logged into a specific network – like Battle.Net, when I used to work at Blizzard – that controls it, and has made it easy to curb some of that."

Weerasuriya also expressed concern about the prospects for independent studios such as Ready At Dawn, which had to downsize in July.

"It is hard; it's tough that the industry is not at a very healthy level right now, and especially for the last few independents.

"If you're a developer right now and you're owned by a publisher it's hard enough, so imagine what it's like if you're an independent covering all your costs yourself. I don't think it gets easier at any time, but the last two years have been particularly hard."

Ghost Of Sparta will likely be Ready At Dawn's last PSP game, Weersuriya claimed ("We've done the absolute maximum with it"), with the studio now looking to other consoles and potentially its own IP.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-of-developers ...

Treyarch community manager Josh Olin has confirmed and detailed a number supposedly 'little-known' features that'll be included in Call of Duty: Black Ops' multiplayer package come November 9.

Olin details a 'Custom Games Editor' which allows you to tweak your own custom matches any way you like. "From variables as simple as Time Limit and Score Limit, or as deep as which weapons, Perks, and gear are available. You want a Pistols Only match? Make one! No longer do custom game modes rely on the honor system," he explains.

"Furthermore, any Custom Game you create and configure can be placed in your File Share, for friends and the community to browse, download, and enjoy."

There'll be split-screen support for two-player online play; the second player can sign in as a guest and join the online fun, but any perks they earn are lost when the session ends. A second player can also sign into their own PSN account on the same PS3 and play at the same time.

Standard stuff. Wasn't that in previous games? We never tried.

An in-game friends list will let you "browse Recent Players, Friends, navigate their File Shares, Recent Games, Combat Records", as well as send and receive game invites all via in-game menus.

It'll also feature regional matchmaking, which is changeable by the user. "So, no matter where you're at in the world, you will have the ability to specify whether you want to match with players from other geographical regions, or only those local to you," explains Olin.

As a final note, Olin clarifies that Emblems earned are NOT reset when a player chooses to go Prestige. They will sacrifice XP, COD Points, Challenge progressions, Loadouts and such, but Emblems remain.

All very exciting. Meanwhile Tesco kicked off the price war today, offering Black Ops for £39.90.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

EA wants you to buy games new, not second hand. We've all grasped that now, and its campaign continues with Dragon Age 2, for which its offering free downloadable content to everyone who grabs a new copy of the game come March next year.

EA has revealed it will being doing with DA2 something similar to the Cerebus Network offerings of Mass Effect 2, which could be accessed "exclusively by original purchasers" of the game through a single-use unlock code in the box.

"We will be doing that," executive producer Mark Darrah told Joystiq. "We haven't announced what's in it, but it'll definitely be something kind of in that Cerberus vein where there will be additional content," he added, rather vaguely.

Darrah also promised generally better quality DLC for DA2 than there was for Dragon Age: Origins, which was often criticised for its re-use of existing material and environments. "What we're doing with the DLC in Dragon Age 2 is making it larger; so it'll be bigger teams, more unique environments, more unique creatures -- so that it gets the attention it deserves to get," he said.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

It's real! It's fake! Actually, no comment. It's been a rollercoaster ride for Sony today but at the end of it there's one conclusion that seems certain - the PlayStation Phone pictured on the internet this morning is anything but a fake Photoshop job.
Engadget has published a second story insisting that the handheld "is most definitely real". It adds:
"This is a device which has been confirmed through multiple, trusted sources. And we're not just talking good tipsters - some of our information comes from people much more closely connected to the project."
It goes on to claim that the machine has been going under the codename of Zeus and that "based on what we've heard about the secrecy of this plan, it makes sense that even Sony's own employees wouldn't be privy to information on the phone, the marketplace, and the collaboration with Google".
The claims come after Sony retracted an explicit denial given to one UK website, reverting instead to the tried and trusted "we don't comment on rumour and speculation" line. But the retraction of what was an initially very firm statement - that the pictures were "definitely fake" - tells a wholly different story.

MCV has not had any concrete confirmation that the device is real, but it has certainly been implied from a trusted source that it is indeed so. And some sites, such as VG247, are claiming to have such confirmation.
What does remain unclear is how the new device will sit within the PSP family, which will next year welcome a new member in the still secretive PSP2. Will the PlayStation Phone replace the current PSP? Will it exist alongside both the old and the new device? It would be surprising if these questions remain unanswered for long.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/41530/Play...efinitely-real ...

Nokia executives have been facing a barrage of questions recently about why the company doesn't abandon Symbian and MeeGo mobile operating systems in favour of Google's Android OS.
EVP and general manager for markets Niklas Savander has discussed the firm's opposition to such a move, and why it has no intentions to introduce Windows Phone 7 handsets, in an interview with Cnet.
"We need to be confident that we can add a significant amount of value on top of whatever platform we choose," he said.
"Currently, we don't think the platforms out there which we are not using - Android and Microsoft - offers an incremental opportunity for us to add value that would sustain a competitive advantage over somebody else. So, no plans."

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/35001...-7-and-Android ...

EA's will expand Medal of Honor's multiplayer experience with the release of a new multiplayer mode and maps on November 2.


The new mode, dubbed Hot Zone, features King of the Hill gameplay where teams fight over a designated location on a map, with the team that holds the position longest prevailing.

Hot Zone will be playable across two new maps, Hindukush Pass and Korengal Outpost, as well as redesigned versions of the existing Shahikot Valley and Helmand Valley maps.

The DLC will be available via Xbox Live for 800 MS points and on PSN and PC for $9.99.

In addition to Hot Zone, EA will release Clean Sweep on November 2 for 360, PS3 and PC. The free download will add a new multiplayer elimination mode, two new maps and redesigned versions of two current maps.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

EA's will expand Medal of Honor's multiplayer experience with the release of a new multiplayer mode and maps on November 2.


The new mode, dubbed Hot Zone, features King of the Hill gameplay where teams fight over a designated location on a map, with the team that holds the position longest prevailing.

Hot Zone will be playable across two new maps, Hindukush Pass and Korengal Outpost, as well as redesigned versions of the existing Shahikot Valley and Helmand Valley maps.

The DLC will be available via Xbox Live for 800 MS points and on PSN and PC for $9.99.

In addition to Hot Zone, EA will release Clean Sweep on November 2 for 360, PS3 and PC. The free download will add a new multiplayer elimination mode, two new maps and redesigned versions of two current maps.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

Kids entertainment specialist Cartoon Network has struck a deal with Crave Games to produce a brand new action game for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and 3DS.
Currently in development at Papaya Studios, the title will include many of the channel’s key brands such as Ben 10, The PowerPuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack and the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.
“Gaming is such a core component of how our fans play and experience our brands,” Cartoon Network’s senior vice president Christina Miller stated.
“This partnership with Crave Games provides us with a great opportunity to bring the favorite characters from the Cartoon Network universe to life in one action-packed battle game and offer our fans a first-of-its-kind console experience.”
Crave Games’ executive VP Betsi Gijanto added: “We are delighted to partner with Cartoon Network and their iconic library of characters to deliver a high-energy gaming experience to their loyal fanbase. Partnering with Cartoon Network is an important growth initiative for us and we are excited to be releasing one of the first games for the Nintendo 3DS.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/41529/Cart...ikes-game-deal ...